


Together we toil to take flight

by 00FFFF



Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: M/M, Neighbors, Oneshot, Rivalry, first s7 fic!, just kidding.. unless..?, only mc personas, season 7, we don't ship real people but i'm sure you know that, what are they, what if i... put my half of the mansion... next to yours .. aha ha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22985761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00FFFF/pseuds/00FFFF
Summary: Bdubs hates his neighbor. And he’s sure that Doc hates him back. Fate has brought them so close together. Too close, even, stepping on each other’s toes with everything they do. Bdubs enjoys their little rivalry. And it’s nothing more than that. It’s nothing more, he swears.
Relationships: BdoubleO100/Docm77
Comments: 21
Kudos: 208





	Together we toil to take flight

Neighbors... can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without them. At least, that’s what Bdubs keeps telling himself. He was unlucky enough to be stuck with Doc, of all people. It was funny at first, of course. What are the odds of being stuck with the _one_ person who owns the other half of your rightfully earned mansion? Bdubs had laughed at Doc’s antics, at his excessive grinding and his passion to do... whatever it is he’s planned to do.

But he quickly got on his nerves. That green cyborg knows just how to push each of his buttons. The noise of his machines running all night long, the villagers in their little cave underground ‘hrmm’-ing and their infinitely increasing iron golem-spawning just generally causing a nuisance.  
And then he had the nerve. The nerve! Mining straight through his branch-mine. Setting deadly traps, touching his items, letting a cat loose near his bed. Doc _knows_ he’s allergic, for god’s sake!

When Bdubs found a Drowned with a trident, he, of course, laid claim on it. But Doc, enchanted by the prospect of owning a weapon like that, had quickly come to see just what he was struggling with. Doc’s presence had thrown off Bdubs’ concentration, and the monster impaled him, sending him all the way back to his bed. Doc had gathered his bits, demanding Bdubs come by and collect them himself. And who cares if the idea of Doc being so kind as to save his armor from a dangerous mob sent his heart aflutter? Bdubs conjured a frown upon his face when Doc came into sight, seeing Doc do the same. 

But Bdubs can’t lie to himself. He likes their little rivalry. He likes waking up and finding out what Doc has done. He likes coming up with ways to retaliate. He likes-  
No. No, he doesn’t like him. They’re just having fun. Fun disguised as conflict. Nothing weird is going on, he’s just riding the wave of pranks and jabs. It’s easier to resign himself to his fate than confront it, no? 

They couldn’t be more different. Like night and day. Bdubs, obedient to the spawning mechanics, sleeps every single night. Perhaps to save his own skin, perhaps to save that of someone else. He knows that Doc is working through the night. He doesn’t want him to be swarmed by phantoms now, does he? No, he’d much rather get him with a prank of his own. That’s what neighbors are all about, right? That’s what they do.

Doc is grinding day and night, but he still manages to find the time to check up on Bdubs. Bdubs can feel his eyes in his back, watching as he’s constructing a wall between their bases. He ignores the way his heart skips a beat every time he finds a new ‘no trespassing’ sign with Doc’s telltale handwriting, sloppier with each day that passes. Bdubs knows that the cyborg doesn’t need much sleep, but five days of non-stop work is pushing it, no?

Himself sleeping every single night didn’t mean that he was lagging behind. On the contrary, he was grinding like a madman himself. Bdubs found himself working harder and harder each day, trying to catch up to his neighbor. His stupid, annoying, chaotic, green neighbor. The man stubborn enough to risk being swooped away by phantoms to optimize his farms.  
Bdubs wasn’t watching him anxiously when he woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night. Bdubs didn’t find himself distracted by his figure in the distance, coaxing llama’s from their leads. No, he definitely didn’t trespass just to hear Doc’s voice yelling his name. To have all his attention to himself, to have him chase after him in a way that his heart longed for. He didn’t like Doc at all. He didn’t. They were just neighbors.

Bdubs convinced himself that it was because he hated seeing him thrive. That he hated seeing him so successful so early on in the season. He didn’t dare pay attention to the thought that it might just be because he _liked_ him.

The cycle continued. Circling around each other, a dance of annoyance and mild griefage and signs claiming things to their own names. Bdubs doesn’t remember what his original plans for his base were, he just knows that he wants to be close to Doc. As annoying as he is, he can barely hide the smile on his face each time Doc enters his field of vision. He can’t know. He can’t know how Bdubs really feels. If he knows it’s all over. Their little game, their little rivalry. This is the only way Bdubs knows how to stay close to him without spilling his heart. 

The two halves of their homes were only a chunk of blocks apart. But it was too much. They weren’t meant to be split. Bdubs wanted so, so badly to move his part over. To finally see the building complete, as it should be. Reunited. Think about all the shenanigans and the pranks that would happen if they _shared a base._ A tingle runs up Bdubs’ spine.

\----

One particular night it starts to rain. Rain turns into thunder, and thunder turns into a storm. With both of their houses quite fragile and unprepared for weather conditions like that, the two neighbors opt to hide in their respective mines, deep underground. Bdubs didn’t bring his bed, and Doc left all his equipment in his chests on the surface. They both sit, and wait. Effectively trapped underground.  
Bdubs can see Doc’s name tag through the 1-block thick wall. Right at the border of their areas.

“Hey neighbor.” He says. 

“What do you want now?” Doc grumbles. Bdubs knows he isn’t really angry, but hearing his voice still sends a chill down his spine.

“I just, uh... never really get a chance to talk to you, you know?”

“Mhm.”

“...Crazy weather out there, eh?” Bdubs doesn’t know where to start or what to talk about. He just wants to hear Doc’s voice. He sits down with his back to the wall.

“I’m guessing you didn’t bring a bed with you, seeing as you’re still awake.” Doc’s laugh rumbles through the stone. It reverberates through Bdubs’ chest. _He’s so close-_

“You know me too well, mister.” Bdubs tries his damndest to keep his voice steady. 

Neither hermit says anything for a while after that. Bdubs doesn’t trust his voice, and he guesses that Doc must finally be feeling tired. It’s been way over a week now, and he hasn’t even so much as thought about crafting a bed, the madman.  
They don’t have the energy to fight. They don’t have the energy to keep up their act of annoyed neighbors. They just sit in silence, the wall between them might as well not be there at all.

Bdubs hears Doc clear his throat.

“Say... “ He begins. _Oh god._ Butterflies and nerves swarm throughout Bdubs’ entire body. His throat feels dry and he swallows.

“Yeah?” He answers, his voice an octave higher than it normally is.

“I have some wool over here.”

“...yeah?” Bdubs has no idea where this is going.

“I could make a bed…”

“Are you finally going to sleep?” He laughs nervously.

“Damnit, Bdubs. Don’t make this harder than it is. You know I’m not good with feelings and expressing them.”

Bdubs turns around, facing the wall. Facing Doc’s name tag.

“What are you saying?”

It stays quiet for far too long. The silence is suffocating. This isn’t happening. They’re both out of their minds. Haven’t had a good night’s sleep in _days._ Doc is sleep deprived, this isn’t him. They’ve both lost it.  
Then the stone wall in front of him starts to break. It collapses, and he’s face to face with Doc, holding his pickaxe. The bags under his eyes dark as the night. Even the cybernetic part of his face manages to look exhausted.

Doc takes a deep breath.  
“I’m saying that I _like you_ , Bdubs. _God,_ I like you so, so much. Every night I stay awake to protect you from mobs, I can’t sleep knowing that you’re out there, exposed to all kinds of dangers, sleeping like an angel. I can’t stand this rivalry anymore, I’m tired of it, I’m tired of pretending. I’ve only got enough wool for one bed, but if you won’t mind, then I’d love to skip the night with you.”

Without hesitation Bdubs breaks the bottom block and he closes the gap between them with the tightest of hugs. It takes Doc a second to register what is happening, but he drops his pick, enveloping Bdubs in his embrace.

“So... is that a yes?” Doc asks nervously.

Bdubs looks up at the tired green man in his arms, tears threatening to fall from the corners of his eyes. 

“Yes, _yes,_ you dummy! I can’t believe it had to come to this in the first place.” He smiles up at Doc, and Doc smiles back at him. Bdubs treasures the feeling. His every sense being invaded by _Doc._

Doc finally sleeps that night, and Bdubs is right next to him. They sleep through the storm, warm in each others arms. They’ve been playing this game for far too long. Pretending to hate each other when really they were just scared to confront their own feelings. They’re no longer angry neighbors. They never really were, he supposes. 

The storm is raging and howling outside, and Bdubs spends his night stuck down in the cold, dark mines. 

And he’s lucky enough to be stuck with Doc, of all people.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I normally don’t write ships, but this idea wouldn’t leave me alone until I did ;; Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Title from ‘Maximum Thrust’ by TWRP


End file.
